Old Friends, New Beginnings
by C. Montgomery Burns
Summary: The New Year approaches and Superman goes to pay a friend as visit.


Set in the DCAU

* * *

Superman could have easily taken the teleporter up to the Watchtower. In less than a second, every cell in his body could have been broken down and instantly reassembled in the space station. He could have even taken a javelin. However, there was something about flying himself, rising from the ground up through the stratosphere and into the cosmos as Metropolis gradually grew smaller, then the state and then the country as the continents in their entirety became visible and the world opened before him, an enormous sphere floating in a great black sea dotted with stars too numerous to count. Even after all the time he'd spent in space, the Man of Steel had never grown tired of the view of his adopted home planet, the same way his father had never grown tired of watching the vibrant sunsets over the farm back in Smallville. Teleportation was convenient, but flying was really the only way to properly appreciate the scenery. It also allowed him to approach much more discreetly.

The Man of Steel entered through one of the airlocks in the lower portion of the tower, carefully cradling the cargo he'd carried from the planet's surface. As he'd expected, the station was virtually deserted, the swathes of heroes and civilian employees that usually filled its immaculate metal confines having gone home for the evening, preparing to celebrate the arrival of the new year in cities across the earth. All except one…

Steady keyboard clicks from the monitor womb reached Superman's advanced ears when he was still a few levels below. The clicks only grew louder as he boarded the elevator, rising to meet them in the upper portions of the tower. As the elevator doors parted, Superman rose off the floor, not wanting to give his approach away with footsteps. He floated quietly down the hallway, closing in on the monitor womb, hoping to surprise the owner of the black cowl peeking over the top of the chair.

"Do you need something, Clark?" came the Dark Knight's surly voice without turning around, freezing the Man of Steel as he hovered just behind him.

The Kryptonian shook his head in disbelief as he lowered himself to the floor. He supposed he should've known better than to try and sneak up on Batman. "And you say you don't have superpowers," he said, trying and failing to recall any part of his approach that hadn't been totally silent.

Batman turned in his chair and looked at his colleague impassively. "I asked if you needed something," he stated flatly.

"Oh...well, I don't need anything but I had a feeling you'd be up here by yourself tonight and thought I should drop by," answered the Kryptonian, a bit uncomfortable under the Dark Knight's cold stare.

Sometimes, Superman wished he didn't have x-ray vision. Without it, he wouldn't have had to see Bruce arch a skeptical eyebrow beneath his mask. "I've done monitor duty a million times. I'm not going to die of loneliness," said the Gotham vigilante.

Superman rolled his eyes, not surprised that his friend would dismiss anything even remotely sentimental. "I know that, but nobody should ring in the new year alone."

"I'll be back in Gotham once my shift is over. I only took it to get out of going to Wally's party," said Batman, getting a laugh from the large Kryptonian.

"It wasn't that bad," Superman found himself wanting to defend the Scarlet Speedster's attempts at being festive.

"You left," observed Batman dryly.

"I didn't leave because the party was bad, Bruce," said Superman with a chuckle, "I left to pay you a visit."

"Well, you didn't need to."

"C'mon," encouraged the Man of Steel, producing the bottle of champagne he'd carried up from earth, "I brought a gift."

The first twinges of a scowl pulled at the Dark Knight's face. "I don't drink on duty."

Superman rolled his eyes. "A tiny bit of champagne on New Year's Eve is not going render you incoherent for the rest of the night."

"Just keep it light," said Batman, relenting with a sigh as the Kryptonian placed the bottle aside, "I still have a patrol in Gotham after my shift."

"Noted," Superman said, placing two cups beside the bottle.

"What are those?" asked the Dark Knight.

"What? These?" The Kryptonian plucked one of the red plastic cups from the table, "They're from Wally's party. You like 'em?"

Batman ignored the teasing in his colleague's voice as his fist closed around the remaining cup, his sharp eyes immediately noticing the familiar lightning bolt logo adorning it. "He had official Flash cups made for his party?"

"I think they were already made. Remember that Wally does a lot of advertising."

Batman grunted in a way that the Man of Steel could only interpret as an expression of disgust. He watched idly as the brooding vigilante examined the cup for a few more moments before placing it beside the bottle. "I swear, it's only a matter of time before he starts selling advertising space on his uniform."

Superman couldn't contain his laughter at the crabby hero's words. "What? You have some problem with having _AT&T presents The Flash_ as a member of the Justice League?"

Batman stared coldly at the Man of Steel. "Do you want me to continue paying for everything?"

"Alright, alright. Fair enough," Superman said good-naturedly, "I'll talk to him, make sure he's not doing anything too crazy with his brand."

Batman nodded. "Good. Tell him if he doesn't listen to you then _I'll_ be paying him a visit very soon."

Superman laughed while the Dark Knight continued monitoring the various situations on earth, the monitor womb's mounted clock marching quickly towards midnight. The Man of Steel found himself watching the various screens, pleased that, for once, the world seemed peaceful. The various channels monitoring the world's greatest cities relayed images of friends, families and lovers all out on the streets, celebrating the new beginning on the horizon.

"Hard to believe it's a new decade," Superman observed thoughtfully, "Seems like it began yesterday."

"I suppose if I aged like a Kryptonian, I might share that sentiment," came Batman's reply.

Superman arched an eyebrow. "You aren't worried about getting old, are you?"

"No, but I will have to get creative to achieve my goal of outliving you."

Superman scoffed and looked at his friend in disbelief. "Is your New Year's resolution to start telling jokes?"

"That wasn't a joke," Batman deadpanned.

The Man of Steel couldn't keep his laughter down and even the Dark Knight couldn't keep from smirking a bit. "It's amazing how little you've changed in all the years I've known you," Superman commented, "You remember how we met?"

Batman nodded. "I stole your girlfriend and chased a homicidal clown through your city."

"You make it sound like it was all bad," Superman chuckled, "And, to be fair, Lois and I weren't together then."

"I'm surprised she let you out of the house tonight," Batman prodded, well aware of the fact that the Kryptonian was a bit of a push over when it came to a certain dark-haired journalist.

"She and Clark Kent are covering a story in London. I got to ring in the New Year with her about six hours ago," answered the Kryptonian, a smile always managing to find a way onto his face when he thought of his better half.

The Dark Knight hummed in acknowledgement as the clock continued to count down, the new year rapidly approaching. Superman plucked the bottle off the desk, minding his strength as he popped the cork and poured the bubbling beverage into the awaiting cups, passing one to his friend as clock read midnight, signifying the arrival of the new year in the US.

Batman tapped his Flash-cup against Superman's in a crude cheers before taking a sip, waiting for a moment as the Kryptonian did the same. "I appreciate you coming to see me," said Batman.

Superman paused for a moment, surprised. "Oh, it's nothing, Bruce," he said once he'd regained his composure, "You're my friend and just because you're on monitor duty doesn't mean you should ring in the new year alone while the rest of the league parties. Heck, without you, there wouldn't even be a league."

Batman scoffed and shook his head.

"What?" Superman asked.

Batman looked at his friend steadily, still holding his drink, "I may pay for this stuff, but I am not the linchpin of the league. That's you. Whenever there's a crisis and people are afraid and desperate and looking for someone to reassure them that things will be okay, they don't look to me or J'onn or Shayera or anyone else. They look to Superman," Batman said, "Nobody else has shown that they're capable of carrying that burden, of being an ideal for the entire world to aspire to, but you carry it admirably."

Superman shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, at bit embarrassed at his friend's words. "That's kind of you to say, Bruce, but sometimes...well, a little more than sometimes, I feel pretty undeserving of all that praise, like I'm still that goofy kid that left Smallville, just hoping to find a way to help folks out."

"That's exactly why you're deserving of it," Batman stated simply before finishing his drink.

Clark flushed but managed to keep from ducking his head in embarrassment. "Thanks, Bruce," he said before finishing the remainder of his cup.

"The world is lucky to have you," said the Dark Knight before turning back to his monitoring duties.

Sensing his friend's readiness to return to work, the Man of Steel prepared to go. "Back at you. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," Batman returned as Superman began to walk away. "Oh, Clark?"

Superman stopped. "Yeah?"

"You gonna take your trash with you?" Batman asked, gesturing the bottle and Flash cups still sitting in the monitor womb.

* * *

Soon after, the Man of Steel found himself drifting through the empty expanse of dark space, back towards the earth. His long red cape drifted behind him as he looked out at his adopted home, his unimaginably advanced senses detecting the limitless joy occurring throughout the world at that moment. He heard it all, every laugh and every kind word that passed between the people of the earth and treasured it, feeling his hope swell. For all the violence and struggle and disaster he'd witnessed, he could still focus his ears and hear whispers of love, promises of altruism and gentle sighs of mercy, all rising up from the earth to proclaim hope for the future, meeting Superman in the stars.

A tear came to the Man of Steel's eye as the first rays of the sun broke the earth's horizon, the new day, the new year beckoning him forward with its promises of warmth and kindness, of a world untouched by misery, disease and violence. He floated for another moment and couldn't help but think that everything looked new, like the planet itself had been born again and was awaiting a brighter future. Ultimately, Superman dried his eyes and, with a smile for the earth and the Watchtower behind him, he flew off towards London.

* * *

A/N: Happy New Year to everyone! May the coming year and the coming decade bring you all joy, love and friendship in abundance.


End file.
